In designing her entry for the Maritime Aquarium's 2013 Festival of Lighthouses, Donna Kern Ball stuck to a sweet and simple strategy: Create something that makes everyone hungry.

"I think I cracked the code," said the Newtown resident, who used 50 boxes of Twinkies, 20 boxes of Ho Hos and 10 boxes of cupcakes for her creation. "It's all about knowing your dieting rules and disregarding them with gay abandon."

Ball is one of two dozen participants in the contest, an annual tradition that sees the galleries of the aquarium aglow with the lights of what might be loosely described as handmade lighthouses.

"We're always impressed with how much work and creativity gets put into these lighthouses," said Chris Loynd, the aquarium's marketing director. "Some folks go at it from the perspective of starting with a lighthouse and transforming it with a unique or unexpected design, while it seems that others create something wild and artistic and find a way to make it into a lighthouse."

Submissions range from a World Series tribute to a beacon that functions as a birdhouse to a holiday-themed lighthouse made entirely out of gingerbread. Four other entries were handed in by students at the Ursuline School in New Rochelle, N.Y. for their Senior Introduction to Engineering class.

Ball, a freelance illustrator who created a large-scale version of the Pepperidge Farm logo out of cookies for a holiday display at Rockefeller Center, had every intention of making a lighthouse. But she also ended up with a monument to snack cakes.

David Bishop, who won last year's Festival of Lighthouses with his gothic-inspired piece, went in a different, but no less creative, direction, designing a model of a mysterious sunken city a la Atlantis or Cantre'r Gwaelod. The lighthouse encompasses 21 wooden structures perched atop a base that resembles a stormy ocean.

For Bishop, a professional woodworker, the contest is a chance to explore a different facet of his ingenuity.

"I try to have a good time with it," the Stamford resident said. "That's always in the back of the mind -- getting a smile, getting some reaction."

The aquarium, for its part, aims to get the most out of its contestants. To that end, rules are kept to a minimum: Lighthouses must be 3 to 6 feet tall and have a working light (though they may not include animal remains, such as shells). Beyond that, it's up to the creators' imaginations.

The winner is decided by aquarium visitors, who can cast their vote for their favorite submission through Jan. 20. The top vote-getter takes home $1,500.

Ball received a boost of support last month when Hostess Snacks retweeted a picture of her submission -- aptly titled "Twinkie, Twinkie Little Lighthouse" -- to the company's 44,000-plus followers.

"It did make quite a nice splash for the Maritime Aquarium and Hostess," Ball said. "It's viral."

Whether or not the plug will help her win the competition remains to be seen. But as far as Ball is concerned, her strategy has already given her a sweet advantage.

"There should be a strong component of yumminess," she said. "What's more appealing then Twinkie?"